Drugs, love and prison – a very smart retelling of a fifteen-month sentence.

When I finally decided to give the Netflix-hit a chance, “Orange Is The New Black” (or OITNB for short) fans were eagerly awaiting the show’s third season. This meant I had 26 one-hour episodes to binge on and as soon as I watched the first two I was hooked. So I wanted to know more – and I wanted to know how much of it is true.

Well reality might not be as fabulous or as dramatic as the successful TV show but it sure feels real. Piper Kerman narrates her experience with the justice system in the U.S. with humor and compassion. She eloquently recounts the crudest moments and made me fall for the rich variety of personalities that surround Kerman during her stay in prison.

Replacing prison clichés with real relationships.

The memoir definitely clears up women’s prison clichés and puts female friendships in a positive perspective. Even if these bonds are somewhat forced under the circumstances, these women – who don’t have much in common to start with – support each other during times of loneliness and need.

In a nutshell: it’s a story about how some mistakes can follow you for years, burst your happy bubble and then teach you to forgive yourself and others, too. And while the series has taken some creative liberties in its by now three seasons, I’m still very eager to watch those exciting dramas play out when season 4 drops in June 2016.